Gina Carano Told Arsenio Hall She Will Meet With Dana White About Fighting in the UFC

Gina Carano, the actress, is thinking about getting into the world of mixed martial arts. Carano was on “The Arsenio Show” last night to promote her new movie “Into the Blood,” when the subject of fighting came up. Carano revealed to Arsenio that she would be meeting with UFC President Dana White this week to discuss a possible fight in the UFC. You may recall that there was a similar looking woman named “Gina Carano” who competed in MMA like 5 years ago. After an August 15, 2009 loss to Cris “Cyborg” Santos, Carano retired to pursue a career in Hollywood. Hold on a second… This is the same person!

At lot has changed since that Gina Carano left MMA. Strikeforce, the promotion Carano last fought in, was bought by the UFC and eventually dissolved. Cris Cyborg, the woman who beat Carano, was popped for steroids and has never been given an invitation to the sport’s biggest promotion. And most notably, Ronda Rousey made her MMA debut a year and a half after Carano’s last fight and quickly became the new face of women’s mixed martial arts. And she’s already followed Carano’s path to Hollywood.

For now, we wait. Will the UFC give Carano – who, again, has not fought since losing nearly 5 years ago – an immediate shot at Ronda Rousey? On the one hand, you can’t do that. On the other, $$$. Ronda Rousey – Cris Cyborg is the fight fans want to watch, but Rousey – Carano is the fight that everyone wants to see. (Or is it the other way around? What is the difference between “see” and “watch” that I was trying to get across?)

Carano should have to take a “tune-up” fight before earning a title match against Rousey, but who wants to take that chance and possibly leave all that pay-per-view money on the table. The UFC might as well just get it over with. Then, if Rousey beats Carano or Rousey survives “Fast 7” she will have basically lapped her in both careers. We’ll have to wait and see, but we probably won’t have to wait long.